SBC attendees approve sex abuse investigation

Some delegates to the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention expressed a lack of confidence in the denomination’s leaders to oversee an investigation into how they handled claims of sexual abuse. Meeting attendees voted to have newly elected SBC President Ed Litton appoint a task force to manage an independent inquiry into allegations that members of the Executive Committee obstructed reforms and mistreated sexual abuse survivors. The Executive Committee of the SBC oversees the denomination’s budget and cooperative programs between annual meetings.

Why are they starting an investigation? Before the meeting, a Baptist blog published a letter from a former SBC leader, Russell Moore, to J.D. Greear, then president of the convention, accusing other leaders of intentionally stonewalling efforts to hold accountable abusers and the churches that mishandled abuse claims. The Executive Committee agreed to hire an outside firm to investigate the allegations, but critics said an outside group should hold the committee accountable for the investigation’s findings.

Dig deeper: Read my report with Mary Jackson on how the SBC has approached the issue of sexual abuse.